Page 3724 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 October 1990
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are at the moment legislative and legal impediments to extending that inquiry into the ACT, even if it were the wish of the Government to do so.
You have asked me a number of questions a number of times about the availability of evidence to support the contention that there are difficulties in the industry. I think that you are just as well informed on that as I am. The Government has not yet determined whether there is any need for an inquiry in the ACT. If there is a need, it has not determined what form it should take. It has not determined whether or not a royal commission of our own or an extension of the New South Wales Government's inquiry into the ACT would be appropriate. They are matters that have yet to be considered by the Government, and when we have considered them and made a decision the Opposition will be the first to know the result.
Arts in the ACT
MRS NOLAN: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts, Mr Humphries. My question relates to National Arts Week which, in fact, was last week. As this is the first week that we have been sitting since National Arts Week, I would like to ask the Minister what the ACT Government is doing to foster arts in the Territory.
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I thank Mrs Nolan for the question, particularly in the context, as she mentioned, of National Arts Week last week. The arts budget for the ACT contains enhancements to existing support and a number of new initiatives promoting the Government's encouragement of diversity and quality in the arts. The arts development program will allocate $1.843m in grants for the calendar year 1991 - an increase of 7 per cent over the amount allocated last year - plus $45,000 for new initiatives.
The budget introduced three new areas of assistance under the arts incentive scheme. The ACT literacy fellowship of $15,000 will enable an ACT writer to purchase that valuable commodity, time, to work on a special literacy project. The film development fund is another initiative which will assist emerging film and video producers to develop scripts and ideas to a stage where these can be marketed to film video funding agencies and commercial production houses. The demonstration cassette scheme will assist early career musicians to produce high quality recordings of their work as a means of promoting themselves. The arts budget also provides increased assistance to the Canberra Theatre Centre. The allocation of $851,500 in 1991 compares with $796,000 in 1989-90.
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